I feel like you guys will need to hear the backstory of the car.
I have replaced the ignition coil, all plug wires, the distributor cap, the ignition rotor, and all the spark plugs. Everything in that area is brand new but it still has no spark beyond the distributor cap.It has a "new" engine said to have around 65k miles on it. The engine had to be replaced in July because the old one blew a cylinder and tore the cylinder head due to a completely clogged EGR system, or so I was told.
Before the engine swap, the car had been acting weird for months but I had neither knowledge or money to do anything about it. It was consuming more oil and coolant fluid than fuel, and even the fuel consumption was extremely bad.
After the breakdown, I ended up getting the car towed to an associate of my dad. He is the guy who performed the engine swap. The engine code is the same as the old one (B5252S), by the way.
After the engine swap, I had the car running for 3 weeks. The only issue I had was that it would not start for the ride back home after short trips to the convenience store, gas station, local shopping mall, etc. It would always start on first try but just die out of nowhere seconds later. I would always have to wait 5-20 minutes before it would start again, because after the dying part it just cranks and cranks but doesn't start.
Three weeks after the engine swap, I went to a friends house and when I was heading home it wouldn't start no matter what I did. I even tried to push start it down a hill. It started but died seconds later. I ended up getting it towed back home. This is where I have been stuck for months now.
It wasn't getting any fuel, so I replaced the fuel pump with a brand new one. I started the car but it died while idling around 20 seconds later. I tried to start it a few more times but it would just die on idle. I'm certain that it's getting fuel now though.
I didn't really know what else I could do so I called the guy who performed the engine swap and had him look at it. He replaced the ignition coil and the camshaft position sensor. The car then ran fine for about half a day. I had to stop at an intersection and when I hit the clutch and the car went into idle, it died. It was now back to how it was before. Cranks but doesn't start.
Discovering that there was no spark, I got another ignition coil on a warranty claim. The car then ran fine for an hour before the same thing happened again, only difference this time was that I could feel the car performing worse and worse before it started giving off choking noises when I touched the throttle pedal. I barely made it off the highway and onto a empty parking lot where it died like it has done before. I had to get it towed back home again.
A few days later, I once again replaced the ignition coil. This time, there was no difference what so ever. The car cranks and cranks but doesn't start. A friend of mine came by to measure voltage and stuff, and so we discovered that there is 11 point something volts going from the coil wire into the distributor cap, but no spark on any of the plugs.
I was told that there might be a problem with the ECU not being compatible with the new engine. I don't understand how that could be the problem seeing as it's the same engine code and it "ran fine" for 3 weeks.
The only difference between the old and the new engine is that the new one was sitting in a automatic while mine's a manual. Nevertheless, I tried putting in a ECU from a pretty much identical car. There was no difference.
I have been in contact with countless mechanics and experienced guys but this car just leaves them all baffled.
I'm from Norway. I apologize if my English or the way I have written all this is confusing.
If you've come this far down the page, thanks a lot for reading.
Eric
